Can someone teach me how to make a toad in the hole please???

I have tried over the years to make this, and every time it never turns out right. My gut feeling is that it needs to be cooked lower and slower than all the recipes suggest, as mine always burns on the outside and is wet and soggy in the middle, despite cooking it for about an hour more than I should do. If anyone can make one successfully, then please can you pass on your recipe/method? Thank you.

Delia (on my phone so can't be arsed linking!). Never ever fails. I double the quantity of hole though as we're pigs . As long as you make sure the dish is extremely well greased it's perfect every time.

The thing is, I've tried following recipes to the letter; my oven has a thermometer in it, so I know it's the right temperature. The last recipe I tried had quite a runny batter mixture; the oil was smoking hot, the sausages had been cooked for about 10 mins. I put the batter in over the sausages, cooked for 10 mins, then turned the oven down and cooked for another 20. Still raw in the middle. So took out the sausages and ate them with the veg, put the batter back in for another 20 mins - still not cooked, but very burnt at the edges. I want to give up, but also want to beat this thing as I don't like not being able to do things.

does it make a difference what type of dish and oil you use? I usually use an enamel one, and use sunflower or rapeseed oil.

Your fat's got to be smoking hot. I cook up my (veggie) sausages in the pyrex dish with olive oil. When they're donw and the fat is hot, get the batter in there fast and the dish back into the oven and the door closed. Keep it closed to keep the heat up! Works a treat! Yum.

I use vegetable oil (not olive, as previously said - it doesn't taste ok) as I make a veggie version and it works ok. I love yokshire puds!

Actually (lazy cook emcom) M+S do a tub of batter mix which comes with a measuring spoon, so you just need to measure cold water and scoops into a jar - shake and its ready to use (my mum will be spinning at this!).

I did a perfect one the other day. Used the left-over yorkshire pudding mix I'd made in Sunday. Let it come to room temperature. Fried the sausages till they were nearly done while the (vegetable) oil was heating in a very hot oven (glass pyrex dish.)

Sausages into hot oil in dish, poured in batter around them (the oil was so hot the batter sizzled and immediately began to 'lift' at the edges) - gently into oven, didn't open door again, done to perfection (big, brown puffy) in about 25 mins.

I've had some failures, though. Oven temp and oil temp are surely crucial, as is not opening the door until the thing has done the initial rising and firming. Room-temp batter is, I sense, important. A not-too-deep dish so it doesn't get the chance to cluster all sulky and pasty in the middle out of sight.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, really.... grit your teeth and try again. It will come right next time I bet! what with all us MN-ers willing it up, up UP

I sometimes do the toad in two sections. So cook your sausages, heat oil till very hot in your dish - at least a centimetre deep. Add about a 3rd of the batter to the oil, and back in the oven for ten minutes. Take it out, lay the sausages on top of the batter, and pour the rest of the batter on top, back in the oven for 20 mins. I sometimes add browned onions to the sausages too. The batter will be crispy round the edges, and solid but still moist in the middle. Yum.

Whisk your mix up the key it sit on the side for an hour so the mix is room temp, not cold as the milk will have been fridge temp, I assume? Whisk it up some more after the hour to get some air in it and then into the boiling hot oil!

I put the batter in a jar with a screw top and give it a good shake. It should bubble and hiss when it hits the hot fat (veg oil does work - I can't compare to animal fat as I haven't eaten it for over 25 years now!).